Hearing officer opposes parole for Northlake cop killer

A parole hearing officer is recommending against granting parole for one of the gunmen convicted in the murders of two Northlake Police officers during a 1967 bank robbery.

After a hearing of nearly 90 minutes this morning, the examiner said Ronald Del Raine, 80, should remain in a federal prison in Colorado where he is serving a 199-year prison sentence.

The hearing was held in Colorado and closed to the press. But it was linked by telephone to a room in the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago, where Northlake Deputy Police Chief Norman Nissen, two sons of slain police detective John Nagle and a former Northlake officer wounded in the shootout listened to the hearing and gave testimony.

"Maybe justice did prevail," added Cain, who attended the audio linkup in the U.S. Attorney's office.

The full parole commission is expected to make a formal ruling in three weeks.

"Now they've got to finish it," said John Nagle, oldest son of the slain detective. "My best friend was taken from me."

Del Raine has been eligible for parole since July 2004 but only recently applied for the hearing.

Del Raine was one of three men who robbed the Northlake Bank on Oct. 27, 1967. He was wounded in a fierce gun battle with police after emerging from the bank and was apprehended in the parking lot.

Northlake Detective Sgt. John Nagle and Officer Anthony Perri were killed in the gunfire

The other two robbers, Henry Michael Gargano and Clifton O. Daniels, escaped with nearly $84,000. Authorities tracked them to a cottage near LaPorte, Ind., and arrested them four days after the robbery and murders.

All three pleaded guilty in 1968 and were sentenced to 199 years. Daniels died in prison. Gargano, now 78 and serving his sentence in a Terre Haute, Ind. federal prison, was recommended to be released on Sept. 3.

But outrage from Northlake police, led by Deputy Chief Norman Nissen, and relatives of the victims, prompted the parole commission to delay Gargano's release and call a "special reconsideration hearing." A date has not been set.

Nissen noted that Del Raine, in an Internet posting several years ago, attempted to profit by sharing his story for a book on police killers.

"In some ways, he's worse than Gargano because he's tried to profit from his crime," Nissen said. "And he's never shown any remorse."